THE A N WYO -= ... . / II rl. · '-'V:: II ... = /íl I",' .. .. .11 '1 /' ... _____ rø :: II':: nu / , \ \ -þ. J \ . Oç ...0 . tit " o . . ". THE TALK OF THE TOWN FUTURE SHOCK I F clouds of unknowing appear to sur- round the future of the Pnncess of Wales, at least one of her subjects might be able to part them. Mrs. Betty Palko, a fifty-five-year-old Irish clairvoy- ant living in the West London suburb of Surbiton, has been Princess Diana's spiritual consultant since 1987-an asso- ciation that was initiated by a discreet telephone call from an intermediary. ("1 was recommended-I never advertise. My clients, you see, are higher- as well as lower-class people.") Through the good offices of her spirit guides, Mrs. Palko claims, she has been privy to her country's fate since that date and so, un- like the press, was informed of the royal separation well in advance. It is in the reception room of her home, a semidetached Tudor-style house with red imitation-Victorian furniture, that the spirits usually move Betty Palko. The spirit of the late Earl Spencer, the Princess's father, who died last March, is a frequent visitor, and so is that of Lin Foo, described by Mrs. Palko as a long- deceased Chinese philosopher. But in cases where discretion is important, Mrs. Palko says, she is happy to operate from a hotel. On several such occasions, it ap- pears-and Mrs. Palko maintains a confidential silence about exacdy where these meetIngs took place-Earl Spen- cer manifested himself in his daughter's presence. The Princess was unable to see or hear him, but became convinced that CL he was indeed present when, through Mrs. Palko, he referred to family matters that the medium presumably could not have known. "He gave me a message of love and understanding for her," the clairvoyant explains, "and apologized for leaving at a time when she needed him." More recendy, Earl Spencer appeared to Mrs Palko while she was at prayer, and informed her that his daughter would change the face of the monarchy. "I see her as een," he told her And although there will be no divorce, Mrs. Palko reports, "both Lin Foo and the late Earl believe that the Princess will have a new suitor in the New Year and that she will be very, very happy." There have been no meetings for sev- eral weeks, however. The clairvoyant has left Surbiton for a world cruise aboard the een Elizabeth 2-the last of the great trans- Adantic passenger liners in service, which happens to have the same name as the woman who, if Earl Spencer's ghost is wrong, could be the last of the eens of England. Mrs. Palko has appointed an agent to handle her affairs. ROYAL TRUMP T HE announcement that the Prince and the Princess of Wales are to separate has demonstrated again the ,.".-- , Î' difficulties for the British of having no written constitution-just one that relies on precedent and the views of elderly peers of the realm appearing on televi- sion. Take, for example, the claim, made in Prime Minister John Major's state- ment to the House of Commons about the separation, that the split has no con- stitutional implications at all. He went as far as to declare, to general disbelief: that there is absolutely no reason that Prin- cess Diana should not still become een if Prince Charles succeeds to the throne. There might be practical difficulties in Diana's becoming een, though. The mechanics of a coronation tradi- tionally require the King and the een to kneel side by side on cushions before the altar. Given the froideur thought to exist between the couple (the Palace's claims of an "amicable" split are not taken seriously), the ceremony might be an uneasy one. From now on, the couple will live in separate palaces, with sepa- rate courts-she in Kensington Palace and he with his grandmother in Clar- ence House. Might they, then, perhaps be crowned before separate altars-one ce .....,. .I. ,.. : \IV. 13 r r s s , r